Strangers
by Keagen
Summary: Novelization of Left 4 Dead 2! It's amazing how well you work with strangers when it's a life or death matter. And something about a zombie apocalypse seems pretty close to being a life or death matter.
1. Ellis

**So, my family pretty much plays this game religiously and I absolutely _love_ this game! And so late night I decided to do something different. I'm going to write a story based off the game! Like, as close to cannon as possible! There is no pairing planned yet, so if you actually about that and is leaning one way more than the other, let me know! Hope you guys enjoy this! I own nothing **

"Lately, it seems as if the virus has become more vicious. Nothing new about it is known just yet, but will soon be discovered by the team of scientists who are working on it day and night. All that is known is that it's more active in heat, and it attack the hosts' nervous system. For now, however, you can do your part by washing your hands, and staying home if you are suspicious of becoming sick. Please help fight this virus by keeping your illness to yourself."

The lady on the radio show kept talking, but she went off on a different topic, and Ellis found himself losing interest. He was more interested in changing this old woman's oil filter. The poor lady had walked into the auto shop he worked at, asking people to help her with her car. His boss had assigned Ellis to the task, and he readily accepted. Not because the job was easy, which it was, but because he wanted to help the poor lady.

Ellis chuckled to himself; he would say that the elderly woman reminded him of his mother, but if his mother even heard that, she just might handed Ellis' behind to him. She was a strong and fierce woman that no wise man would even dare to challenge. She was also rather tall, standing at a proud six feet and two inches. Her voice was even more daring, quickly calling attention to her. Ellis learned at a young age not to disobey her.

The young male frowned, thinking of the news that had just been reported. It was been going around for months, about how a new virus came out into discovery. Keith and he had always talked about a zombie apocalypse happening, but they never were serious. Now that it's actually happening, Ellis finds it both terrifying and exciting.

The mechanic finally took the filter off and watched in horror as the oil droop from the car. It was supposed to be a lot thinner than this ugly black stuff. Just how long as it been since the oil filter was changed? It was absolutely disgusting. When all the liquid was out, an action that took what felt forever, Ellis scooted the pan of oil out from under the car. His suspicions were right about the oil; it was as black and disgusting as he had suspected, just worse in the sunlight. He grimaced and put it into a milk gallon container for recycle. He never knew just what they did with it, but he wasn't sure he wanted to know.

He grabbed the new oil and coated the top to the new oil filter before sliding under the car and replacing it. Ellis tightened it down, tight enough that it won't come off, but not so much that it'll break. He smiled at the job well done. Now all he had left is to put in some new oil.

"Ellis!"

Ellis jerked up in surprise and slammed his forehead against the bottom of the car. He swore loudly before scooting out from under the car. Oh, he knew that voice all right. "What?" he asked irritatedly. Why was Keith bothering him? And at work of all places? However, when he saw the man's face expression, all irritation vanished. Keith's face was pale and his eyes had an odd look, almost resembling fear. Ellis furrowed his eyebrows, concern.

"Keith? What's wrong?"

"The outbreak," Keith said breathlessly; he must have ran the whole way there. "Faster than they expected. Zombies are breaking into town and infecting everyone. We need to go."

"Are you serious?" Ellis asked, his jaw dropping.

Keith huffed, quickly becoming annoyed. "Do I look like I'm joking?"

Ellis quickly stood up from the ground and the two men ran towards their homes. They had figured something like this would happen, so they had planned on what to do, even if it was just joking. Keith ran for his home and Ellis ran for his; they needed supplies. The plan was to spend only 15 minutes getting whatever they can, and then meeting up under the town's old oak tree.

The younger male slammed his door opened and took a minute to take in his surroundings. Everything looked untouched. Ellis sighed, relieved. If no zombies came through here, then that means his Ma is still okay. He ran upstairs to his bedroom, mentally naming all the items he needed. Once in his room, he grabbed his small backpack and stuffed in some first aides, vitamin-drinks, and some off the counter medicine. He glanced at the wardrobe and at his outfit. The overalls was thick enough to help prevent getting bitten, but it would be horribly hot for the Georgia's summer. He shrugged off the top part of the overalls and tied it around his waist. It didn't took him long to find his favorite shirt and throw it on. It was a bull-shifter shirt he had gotten years ago with Keith. Good thing it still fit.

He hesitated before running out of the room, his old wooden bat catching his eye. He has had that thing for years. His father had given it to him, wanting Ellis to use it and play baseball. Shortly after, though, his father left him and his mother and Ellis found all his desire to play quickly faded. Ellis couldn't help but to smirk; looks like it's time to finally use this old thing. He tucked it between his waist and the tied up sleeves, making sure it was snug and wouldn't fall out. Satisfied, he ran back downstairs.

Next place Ellis went was the living room of the house. His Ma always kept guns hidden in the family's chest at the front door. He wasn't sure exactly why she kept them there, the woman always told him that it was there for a good reason. Ellis opened the chest and grabbed the AK-47 from the chest along with some ammunition. He was about to grab the pistol, but an idea came to him that made him hesitated. His mother would need some way to defend herself so he decided to leave it. Closing the chest, Ellis glanced around the house, looking for anything that might help. Nothing came to mind and he decided that he had everything.

Once outside, Ellis could see what Keith had meant when he said that it was spreading faster than anyone had thought. Their little town was already filled with zombies, and once in a while a scream could be heard from some one. Trying his best to ignore them, he ran for his tiny blue pick up truck. He stuffed everything he had into the trunk before sliding into the driver's seat and starting the engine.

He backed up his truck, watching behind him. Once he was in the road, he changed it to drove forward, wanting to get to the tree as fast as possible. The ride was going fine until half way there, some of the zombies were just standing in the road. Ellis slowed to a stop and stared at them in horror. What should he do? He swallowed nervously before reenacting a movie scene he had once saw when he was younger. He backed up a bit, and then pressed the gas pedal, quickly driving forward. The bodies slammed into the truck, leaving a mess and cracking the window; Ellis winced at the crunching noises.

When the road was finally cleared, Ellis took a deep breath and released it, willing his tense fingers to relax. Now all he had to do is wait for Keith. He turned off the engine and sat there, twiddling his fingers and trying to find some way to keep him still; he was just so restless. A zombie apocalypse! Who would have figured! After ten minutes, Ellis sighed loudly and got out of the truck. Where was he? While Ellis didn't had a watch with him, he was pretty sure it has been over twenty minutes. He started fidgeting with his overalls, needing something to keep his hands busy. Why was Keith taking so long?

A growl caught his attention. Ellis turned around sharply, his breathe getting caught in his heart. A zombie was standing behind him, growling at him. She was wearing a floral dress and towered him in height. His heart lodged in his throat; it was his mother.

He knew, logically, he should take out his gun and shoot her down, since she was already dead. That this _thing_ in front of him was just a virus controlling a dead body. But no matter how much he tried, he couldn't get himself to move; he could barely breathe. Ellis stood there, watching in horror, as his mother – or rather, a zombie that looked like her – started charging to him. And damned it, he _can't_ move.

A loud gunshot echoed, startling Ellis out of his frozen state. The zombie slumped down to the ground with a bullet hole in her head. Ellis look up from the body to Keith standing there, his gun still aimed to the zombie, and a grim expression. He marched towards Ellis and grabbed him by the forearm, leading him back to the truck. "Drive, Ellis."

In his shocked state, he didn't argued as he got in and started up the Engine. Keith got into the passenger seat and Ellis drove. They drove on for a good ten minutes before anyone of them spoke. Finally Keith sighed and started talking. "There's an evacuation going on in a hotel in the big city a few hours from here," he explained, showing Ellis the paper announcing it. Ellis glanced at it briefly before turning back to the road. He didn't know what to say. There wasn't really anything to say, anyways.

He continued to drive, his mind feeling numb. If a zombie had stepped out in front of them, Ellis would have gone right over it without even blinking. They passed a gas station and he blinked out of his of trance long to looked down to his gas meter to see if they needed any gas or not. The arrow was pointing at full so he kept driving. Who would have thought that it was a blessing that he thought to fill it yesterday.

"Ellis, stop."

It took Ellis a moment to realized that Keith had told him to stop. It took him another moment to actually stop and look at Keith questioning. Keith still had a grim expression, but now it looked almost regretful. He sighed and turned to Ellis. "Ellis, man, I'm sorry. You're going to have to do this alone."

"What?" Ellis asked hoarsely, not quite understanding.

"I need to find my family, Ellis. I can't just up and abandon them."

"But-" Ellis started but Keith stopped him; he already knew what the younger male was going to say.

"No, Ellis. I want you to go ahead, alone. I'll meet you somewhere, alright?" Keith said, giving Ellis one of his trademark smiles. Ellis stared at him, studying him, looking for any signs that the man was lying to him. When he found none, he sighed dejectedly.

"Yeah, alright," he sighed.

"Good lad," Keith chuckled. He took off his hat and plopped it down on Ellis' head, much to the later one's protests. It was sweaty and it disgusted Ellis. He took if off as fast as he could, much to Keith's amusement. "Keep it for me. Don't want it getting ruined or nothing," he joked. Ellis didn't bothered to stop the smile from growing.

"Sure."

Keith hesitated before turning back to Ellis, looking worried. "One more thing?"

"What is it?"

Keith hesitated some more, something that Ellis found disturbing. Keith wasn't known for actually thinking before speaking. Keith sighed, what felt like the hundredth time this hour. "Keep that goofy smile on your face, alright? It's not all that bad."

Ellis furrowed his eyebrows, not understanding Keith's reason for saying this. He watched as Keith got out of his little blue truck and started jogging towards their town. The youngest didn't even bothered to continue driving until he could no longer see the taller man's back. And even then he hesitated before starting up the car again. He sighed and started driving towards the town that Keith had mentioned.

He only drove for a mile or two when the gas station back near the town's outskirts exploded, sending chunks of debris in the air. Ellis watched through his rear view mirror in horror. Keith must have been right next to it. The explosive wasn't that big and it didn't lasted that long, but he knew that it would have smarted if someone was right next to it. Most likely, the road was blocked too.

His lip quivered, a habit he picked up when he was younger and when he felt overwhelm. He bit his lip to stop it and swallowed hard. He took a deep breathe, held it, and then let it out slowly. He can do this. He opened his eyes and watched the zombies linger around his truck.

A huge grin spread out on his face and he revved his engine. "Let's do this, baby!" he shouted before releasing the break. The truck went racing down the highway, no longer needing to worry about speed limits. Zombie Apocalypse, let's do this.


	2. Rochelle

**I am _so_ sorry for this late update. I would tell you why I didn't post it soon, but all it will be is excuses. So, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter instead ; v ; ALSO Keep in mind of the rating please! This is a rated M game! (if I'm right) Also, to those who are wondering, ALL of the characters live in Savannah. Can you guys tell I don't like Rochelle? oops  
**

Rochelle was standing there, holding the tray, and watching the people talk to the camera with envy. She wanted that job and she will get it. She'll get it and prove her father right, that a black woman can be on news. A man interrupted her train of thoughts, however, by grabbing a coffee from her tray and walking past without a thank you. She sighed. She'll get that job someday, just you wait.

She watched as people walked past her doing various jobs and what not, while she sits there and waits for the main woman to be down talking about news. It was her job to provide coffee. Of course, she also helped with technical stuff, but as of right now, there was nothing that needed to be helped with. Rochelle watched in disgust while the main speak talked about some rich man. She was smiling all cheerful, looking excited. Unfortunately, though, Rochelle knew exactly what type of person she was.

Before she met this woman, she thought people like this only exist in the movies. Unfortunately, she had the unpleasant opportunity of finding out how wrong she was. This woman insults her and mocks her, but once she walks up to her chair and the cameras starts rolling, she then acts all nice and friendly. People like that disgusted Rochelle and she couldn't help but to judge them.

Screams filled the hallway, echoing into the room she was in. Everyone went silent, listening. The silence only seemed to become heavier when the screams stopped abruptly. Chills ran down her spine. What had happened? A cameraman, someone Rochelle never bothered to get to know better, walked to the door and slowly turned the doorknob. However, the second the door knob was turn, the door burst opened, smashing the man between the wall and door. A group of people stumbled in.

It wasn't until one of them growled and the smell got to Rochelle did she realized that there was something very wrong with these people. They were covered in flesh wounds, and some looked as if their innards were barely in them. Their eyes were milky white, and they had no orientation when they walked. Rochelle's stomach lurched to the floor. Was this some sort of trick or prank?

The thought quickly escaped her mind when one of the zombies grabbed the nearest female and bit into her neck, emitting a scream from the poor woman. It seemed like that screamed knocked everyone out of their trance, because suddenly everyone started screaming and scrambling to get out of the room. A man crashed into Rochelle, knocking all the drinks of her tray. It was by miracle alone that she didn't fell with the drinks. If she had, she would have never gotten up again.

A zombie ran towards her, and she screamed. Using the closet thing to her, her tray, she slammed it into the zombie's head, quickly ending its movements. She didn't spent too long looking at it before she took off running. Rochelle desperately looked for some place that would be safe for her; she had to call her family. Dodging and weaving through both the living and the dead, she finally found a small closet.

She slammed the door behind her and took a few minutes to catch her breathe, her heart racing in her throat. What had happened? Why did everyone suddenly turned into zombies? A laugh forced itself from her throat; did she fall asleep or is she in some sort of horror movie? She pulled out the phone and quickly dialed her mother's phone. Her mother was a busy woman and never had her phone off. Surely she can contact her.

Instead of the phone ringing that she had hoped for, it instantly went to a busy tone. On the second try, a recorded message was given. "Due to the excessive calls, the lines are currently too busy to receive yours. Please try again later. If problem continues, please contact your phone provider."

"Damn!" Rochelle hissed. She shoved her phone back into her pocket.

Rochelle swallowed the lump in her throat that was threatening to get bigger. Okay, now what? She raked her brain, trying to recall anything that her friends had said about a zombie apocalypse. They had all joked about it happening, but Rochelle, being the ever realistic person, never believed them. Oh, if only she had paid attention.

A weapon! Of course! She mentally slapped herself. You would think she would have thought of this earlier. She scanned the small closet, trying to find _anything_ that would help her. There was a bucket and some cleaning solutions, but Rochelle had a feeling that it wouldn't help much. Might help the smell, though. She continued to search when she found a mop. She lift it hesitantly, feeling the weight and strength. It wasn't as good as a metal bat or a gun, but it would have to work. Besides, she thought as she looked around the closet. There's not much else in here that would work.

She took a deep breathe before opening the door slowly. She poked her head out and looked both ways. There were only a few stranglers that wouldn't bother her if she didn't get to close. Hopefully it's like this, too, on the lower floors. Rochelle slowly stepped out of the closet and down the hall, watching each and every zombie for a sign that they had interest in her. Fortunately, none did. As long as she didn't get too close to them, she'll be fine.

Unfortunately, she didn't had such good luck by the next floor. The hallway and rooms were full of zombies. Once in a while, she could either see or hear a human running by, being chased. Her heart ached to help them, but she knew if she did, both of them would die. So she tried her best to ignore the sounds and keep going. She turned a corner to find a zombie standing there. She froze, not daring to move. The zombie started growling at her before running. She placed her feet into position, similar of a baseball player, and took a deep breath, readying herself.

Once it was close enough, she released all she had into the blow. The handle of the mop landed into its head with a resounding crack. Rochelle almost gagged as she watched blood and some other fluid that she didn't want to know what seep out of its ears and nose. The zombie slowly sank down and onto the ground. It moved no more. Her shoulders ached from the swing that she had delivered. She hadn't used those muscles in a long time. Not since middle school.

She continued her journey, going down one floor at a time. By the time she reached the stairs that would lead to the last floor, she started feeling a bit hopeful. This wasn't as hard as she had thought it would be! She rounded the corner and her stomach lowered to the floor when she saw what was waiting for her.

Somehow, desks and shelves were stacked in the middle of the hallway, preventing anything from getting through. She stared at the mess with disbelief. Who would do this and why? Rochelle walked up to the pile and gave one of the shelves a tug. It won't move. Nothing in this pile was moving anytime soon. She stepped back with a sigh and looked around. There was a room to her right, one that must have belongs to a low status worker.

Curious, she walked into the room. There was some cold cups of coffee, computers still on, and an overturned chair. A bottle of ibuprofen caught her eyes. Surely this was something she might need soon. She pocketed the small bottle and continued to look around. There was a window straight across from her. Through this window, she could see the streets below. There were people walking around the streets, but by the way they were walking, Rochelle had a feeling that they were zombies. She looked down and judge the height. It was just one floor up from the ground, surely she can make it.

There was no other way for her. She couldn't climb through that mess. She gulped and look down again. If she can aim right, she could land on that dumpster. Unfortunately, the lid was closed, which meant she would bounce off of it instead of sinking into the garbage. She wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing.

It took a few tries, but finally Rochelle was able to break the window with her mop. Once the main parts of the window was removed, she used the soft part of the mop to finish removing the little slivers of glass. She knew she wasn't going to be able to remove all of the glass, but she did wanted to lower her risk of cutting herself. Once she deemed it clean enough, she climbed through the window, setting her bottom on the window sill. Suddenly the dropped seemed further.

She dropped her mop and watched as it landed on the dumpster and rolled onto the ground. Rochelle didn't waited any longer before sliding out of the window, following the mop. While falling, her mind raced, trying to think of the proper way of landing, but couldn't remember any. She landed on her feet, and a shot of pain went up her legs, causing her to instantly take her weight off of them. Her bottom hit the garbage can lid and bounced off, sending her to the cement ground. She landed heavy on her hands and front, skinning her palms. She whimpered at the pain, sitting up to look at her injuries. Her hands were bleeding and both of her ankles hurt. However, with a quick look to them, she can tell they weren't broken or sprained. She sighed in relief. "Talk about a bumpy landing," she joked softly.

She stood up, being careful of her poor hands and feet. Surely that noise must have attracted the zombies. She picked of the mop and glanced around. She would have to hurry if she wants to avoid them.

A cabbie in front of her caught her attention. Who ever had driven it originally had left the door wide open. Figuring it was as safe as anything, she quickly jogged over to the vehicle. Rochelle slid into the passenger seat and shut the door behind her, shutting her off from the outside. The inside of the car was a mess. The passenger drawer was wide out, papers spilling everywhere. There were some left over food on the floor and on the driver's seat. Rochelle felt disgusted and wondered how long have they been sitting there. There was a piece of paper tapped to the steering wheel. She grabbed it and tugged, quickly riding it of the tap. Bringing it close, she read what was written on it.

"Take anything you need. Good luck."

Sighing, she sat the note on the driver's seat. What else was in here that she could use? Rochelle searched through the glove-compartment. There was a small thing of ibuprofen, papers, and a pamphlet that caught her attention. She pulled it out and gave it a closer look. It was a pamphlet announcing the 'end of the world'. It was talking about where the planned evacuation was. A small thread of hope grew when she saw that it was close, maybe half an hour from where she currently was. She sat the pamphlet down with the note before continuing her search.

Ibuprofen was pretty important, so she grabbed it and pocketed it. One last search found her a pocket knife. Fully extended, the knife reached almost eight inches. She smiled to herself, this might come in handy. She looked some more, but unfortunately she couldn't find anything else that might have helped. Someone might have searched in this before she did.

Rochelle quietly climbed out of the car and looked around, holding her knife and mop. Well, not much else to do but to drive to that hotel. She walked down the streets, avoiding miscellaneous walkers, as much as she could. She didn't had a proper gun and dreaded the idea of being stuck in a horde. That fear made her walk faster.

Rochelle breathed a sigh of relief when she found her car. She had been in a rush and had parked it in the first spot she had found, even though it was in the sun. Who knew that would help her later in the day. She pulled out her keys and was about to press the button when realization dawned on her. She hesitated, hand still in the air. If she presses this button, the car will beep but it will unlock. If the car beeps, it's attract the zombies. Rochelle groaned. "Great. Just great."

She sprinted to the car, weaving through the trash and dead bodies. It didn't took her long before she got to her small minivan. Rochelle glanced around and swallowed. Now than never. She hesitated before pressing the little green button. Instantly, the beep seemed to echoed through the streets. The click of the door soon followed. Screams could be heard blocks away; they were coming.

Flinging the door open, she threw herself into the driver's seat and slammed the door behind her. Her hand was shaking so bad, it took a few times to get it in the keyhole. At one point, Rochelle shouted in frustration. Why couldn't she do this? When the key finally slid into the hole, she would have cried in relief if she had the time. Unfortunately, she didn't.

Putting the gears into reverse, she pressed the gas pedal, instantly backing up the vehicle. She only backed it up enough to drive forward. Once she deemed herself having enough room, she slammed it into drive and gunned the gas. Her car squealed and protested before shooting forward. Rochelle never released the pedal until she could no longer see or heard the horde.

She sighed and tried to calm herself down. "Well, Rochelle. If you're in an apocalypse now, you're gonna have to get used to this." Of course, that didn't exactly comfort her. Hopefully the CEDA is still there.


	3. Nick

**I'm sorry it's a bit short! I'm establishing their personalities in the first few chapters so far. I hope I got Nick right. For a short chapter, I rather enjoyed writing this! Working on the next chapter already c:  
**

Nick took a huge swallow from his beer before he turned his attention to the cash register machine. He had been driving from Las Vegas and was making his way down the highways. Somehow, he stumbled into this little abandon bar just outside of Savannah, Georgia. It surprised Nick to see it abandon. It looked as if everyone had just left it in a rush. Papers and garbage were everywhere and the doors unlocked. Warning bells sounded in Nick's head, but he decided to ignore it for now. Inside, there were still bottles full of alcohol, chairs and tables either laying on the floor or set up, and a cash register. The cash register seemed out of place in the dump.

Of course, Nick, knowing his priorities, he grabbed the best brand of alcohol he could find before exploring. He popped the lid off the bottle and drank to his hearts content. He was always good at keeping his alcohol down, so he wasn't too worry about drinking too much. He grabbed another bottle before inspecting the machine. Locating the correct button, he press it. The tray of money popped out, revealing at the least a hundred dollars. He smirk at his find. This is just too easy.

He turned his attention to the shelves, under the main counter. From experience, he knew that this was where they kept things that employers don't want the customers to see. He found a bottle of prescribed pain medication, some extra cash, and an old bible. Nick chuckled humorously. Reading the bible and working at the bar?

Nick grabbed the pills and shoved them into his pantsuit's pocket, ignoring the bible. Who knows when he might need them. Besides, something told Nick that the original owner was long gone.

He went to grab another bottle of beer when he heard a growl. Nick shot up, standing, so he could see where the sound came from. Across the room, standing at the door way, was a man. The man was a lot taller than Nick, and had a few more years on him. The light must have been broken in the hallway because Nick couldn't make out much features on the man. Another growl emitted from him.

Nick raised his hands, showing that he meant no harm. Who knows, maybe southerners can't speak proper English. "Hey, man, I meant no offense. I thought this bar was abandon. I'll just head out now."

The man started to bare his teeth, and Nick realizes that something was wrong. The conman only had enough time to take a step back before the man charged. Nick dodged back behind the counter. When the man crashed against it, Nick could feel it vibrate. The man was growling and scratching at the counter, making deep grooves in the surface. An action that Nick had thought was impossible. A horrid stench choked Nick and he realized what this thing was: it was a zombie.

Nick swore and scrambled away from the counter, giving even more space between him and that thing. The zombie – although, Nick hesitates to call it that just yet – continued to try and reached him. Its eyes were glassy, and its neck looks like something had torn it apart. Well, at least there was no doubt that this thing was dead. He pulled out his Desert Eagle from his gun holster and held it up, taking aim. Predicting its movement, Nick pulled the trigger. The bullet hit in the middle of the dead man's eyes, going through the brain, and out of the back. The zombie dropped dead. Nick stared at the still body, waiting to see if it was mimicking death or not. Many times he had killed a man before, so killing this thing didn't even bothered Nick. He was beyond caring about a single man's death now.

The conman slid the gun back into its holder before he walked up to the body, assured that it is now indeed dead. He spent no time patting the body, looking for valuables; fifty bucks in the wallet, and a few bullets in the same pocket. Somehow, the bullets was the same type that would fit his gun. Nick wasn't sure if he should call that luck or not. Perhaps a coincidence. "Thanks, Garry," he said, glancing at the man's license.

The bar was otherwise quiet. There were no more sounds of anything moving in the building besides Nick. Thus, Nick deemed that it was a high chance that this zombie was the only one. But that didn't deceive him. If it was the freaking apocalypse happening, then he needed to high-tail it out of there before more arrived. With a quiet glance through the building, Nick head back towards the doors, where he had come from. Of course, he hesitated before opening the door. Maybe, he thought slowly, turning back to the counter, he should grab another bottle or two of beer. Never know when you're going to find beer again. He spent ten minutes just looking at all the bottles to decide which was the better two out of them.

Once he was happy with his decision, he walked back to the doors. He didn't hesitated this time before opening them. The harsh sun blinded him and it took a few moments before his eyes adjusted. Before, when he first arrived here, the parking lot was completely empty. Now, however, there were zombies walking around, not yet aware of him. Nick stared before shutting the doors. He stood there for a second before he said, "nope."

Nick turned around and headed for the back door. Or, would have if they had one. He gazed at the wall in disbelief when he walked to the back room and found none. There wasn't even a window. Weren't buildings like this have back doors? In case of a fire? Nick growled in annoyance. Okay, so back doors are out of the question and there wasn't any windows. He'll have to go through the front door.

Walking through the main room for the third time now, something caught his eye. It was a bulletin board hanging on the wall to his right. On the bulletin board was a piece of paper that looked a bit old. Looking closer, he could see it was an evacuation notice. Why would they leave it there? Did the owner put it there to warn other people? Nick glanced at the dead body behind him. Looks like it didn't do a lot of good. He tore the paper down and stuffed it in his pocket. He didn't know any addresses around so it would be nice to have it on handy. Good thing someone had put the picture of the hotel on it.

When he opened the doors again, he was a lot more quiet this time. None of the zombies paid him mind and he took that to advantage. He scanned the parking lot, looking for the newest looking car. Some of the cars looked like it had been there for quite a while. Nick would bet his fancy suit on the fact that it was probably out of gas. He couldn't use the same car that he drove in with because it was also almost out of gas. After a few minutes, he finally found the newest looking car.

The conman sprinted to the car before sliding into the seat, slamming the door shut. Thank whatever holy being there is that the door was unlock. With experienced fingers, Nick easily hot wired the car into starting. Granted, it was harder to do this with newer cars, so fate must like him today. Nervously, he watched as the gas meter bar inched its way up. He sighed in relief when it stopped between half and full. Enough to get him to that hotel.

He didn't bothered to check for zombies when he pressed on the gas pedal. Of course, that didn't stop him from cringing when he hit them; that couldn't be good for the paint. He got on the highway, heading north to Savannah. Nick looked up at the rear-view mirror. It was pointed too low, showing his harsh, grey eyes staring back. He thought nothing about it as he changed it so he could see behind him. Savannah? This should be easy.


	4. Coach

**wow, this is shorter than Nick's! oops. I promise there won't be any more short chapters! Thanks for sticking with me. Action will happen in the next chapter! **

Coach tried to focus on his bible study, but no matter what he did, his mind kept going back to recent occurrences. There has been an outbreak of the flu and the whole high school had to be closed. Coach was baffled by this; never once in his career has there been a flu that closed a school. It was unthinkable. He hoped this wouldn't continued for long. Not long because he needs the income, but also for the health of the children. It must be scary for them to have such a horrible flu. According to scientists, this was worse than the swine flu epidemic that happened a few years ago.

With a sigh, Coach gave up reading the bible. He had the attention span of a little thirteen year old boy. He sat the old, worn book down by the table next to him and reached for the remote. Maybe there was some good news on the TV. He turned the TV on and sat the remote down next to the bible. There was a blond woman talking about the flu. She was a pretty thing, with long, wavy blond hair and green eyes. He smiled; she almost looked like his wife from years ago.

A scream came from the news station, starling Coach from his happy memories. The blond looked around, confused. Coach watched in horror as he saw a swarm of people came marching in the station, attacking the other people. After a few minutes of this, the camera got knocked down, showing him the view of the feet. However, that wasn't any better. His stomach lurched when blood started pouring onto the ground. What was going on? He scrambled for the remote before he finally turned the TV off. He sat there for a few moments in stunned silence. What the hell was that?

It took him a moment to realize that the screaming wasn't just in his head, but outside. He got up from his recliner and walked over to his little window. He opened the blinds just enough so he could peer down at the streets. There were people running around and attacking each other. Coach couldn't believe his eyes. Surely God wouldn't allow this to happen? But the more he watched, the more he started doubting that it wasn't what it looked like. It looked like a zombie apocalypse had started.

Coached turned around and looked at the paper on his fridge. His neurotic neighbor had given him a flier about an upcoming evacuation. She had been preaching about a zombie apocalypse happening, but he never believed her. However, he found himself unable to throw it away; a lingering doubt in his mind wondering, "what if?" It was because of this doubt that he had stock up in supplies.

He walked over to his chest and opened it. He grabbed the pump shotgun and metal golf club. He strap the gun to his back and held the club to make sure he could grab it when needed. Once done, he headed for the kitchen. There were canned food hidden that he could use, along with bottled water. It took him ten minutes top to get everything together and into his little backpack. When Coach was done, he gave one last inspection of his apartment. It was odd for him to think that he may never come back to his home.

After taking a few minutes to get himself together, he headed for the door. A picture caught his eye, one that he had hung by the door. He inspected it closer. It was a picture of him, ten years younger, laughing with a blond woman next to him. Coach smiled sadly. It was his wife, Janet. They had only been married for five years before she developed breast cancer, a malicious form of it. She had passed away shortly. "Ten year, baby, and I still miss you," he whisper softy, touching the photograph. He was inclined to bring it, but decided against it. A picture of her didn't belonged in an apocalypse. It belonged in a nice house like this one. He left the building without it.

A zombie was standing right there in his hall way. He made quick work with it, swinging his golf club into it's head. He continued walking, ignoring his neurotic neighbor screaming from her apartment. It sounded as if she was saying "I told you so!"

He walked down the stairs to the pavement, limping the whole way. Oh, why did his knee chose today to bother him? He glanced around the streets, taking in his surroundings. Coach wasn't sure if he should be glad or not that the people were distracting the zombies, leaving his way clear. It didn't took him long to spot the tall hotel. That was where the evacuation was held at. He looked upwards to the sky and muttered his thanks to God that it was so close to him. Especially since he didn't had any easy way to get to his car. It was in the shop and he doubt it that it was finish. And he didn't want to go out of the way just to get a car that may or may not work.

He glanced at his watch and then glanced back up at the hotel. While it wasn't that far, it would still take him a good hour to walk that distance. He sighed. Hopefully the people will still be there when he finally gets there.


	5. Meet Up

**Guys I really wanted to give you a nice long one as an apology for the short chapters but I have been so sick lately. I am sitting here with a high fever and there is no way I can write this now. THIS IS NOT PROOFREAD! Please bare with the grammar mistakes and spelling. I don't know when I can write again, but I promise when I'm better, I'll fix this up. Thanks for hanging in there, you guys are the best. **

Ellis slowed his truck to a stop and looked around slowly in horrified awe. "Holy hell," he whispered to himself. The entire highway was blocked with cars. There was no way he could get this pickup through the maze; there just wasn't enough room. He would have to go on foot. He shut the engine off before jumping out of the vehicle. He grabbed his weapons and backpack and slammed the door. Ellis hesitated, wondering if he should lock it or not, but then decided against it. It's not like anyone can use it. He glanced around again, still awed at just how many cars there were.

Some were the new, top models of cars, some that Ellis have never worked on before. Others were beat up and old, just like his pick up. What disturbed him, though, was all the car had at least one door opened. It looked as if everyone had left in a hurry. But there were no zombies around, so what was it? Could the zombie just move that fast?

Curiosity took control. Ellis climbed onto of his pickup truck to see a better view. And while the view was at a better angle, it wasn't a better news. The highway was blocked up for miles. So even if he does get about five to move, he would still be stuck. It was impossible. Ellis took his cap off and scratched his head thoughtfully. How is he going to do this? He could walk, he thought, but that would be miserable. Something caught his eye and he peered at it, trying to figure out what it was. His heart jumped when he realized was it was; people!

Excited, he hoped down from his truck and jogged over to them. The African-American was closest, so he arrived to her first. "Howdy!" He happily called out. He could see her flinch before she turned to him. She must have not seen either him or the others that were a little further ahead. The poor woman looked tired and stressed. But Ellis didn't blamed her; a zombie apocalypse was a stressful thing! He stopped a good yard from her and waited until she replied.

"Hi," she said uncertainly. Ellis didn't recognized her accent. But hey, at least she wasn't giving him the cold shoulder.

"I saw some people other there," he explained, gesturing further down the highway. "Let's go meet them!"

Ellis started jogging to them, and it took a while before he heard the female following. They weaved through the open car doors and trash, and a few dead bodies. It was all surreal. Ellis felt as if he was in an episode of the Walking Dead. When he was within hearing distance, he called out to the other two males. They were both startled to hear someone else with them. Ellis and the woman stopped and Ellis started talking. "Hey! Where y'all heading to?"

The older male, who was also taller than all of them, replied first. "I'm heading to the hotel where the evacuation site is." He glanced at the other three before continuing. "I'd imagine y'all heading that way, too?" he asked. The female looked nervous, the male in the white suit scoffed, and Ellis grinned even wider.

"Yep!"

"Well, why don't we all stick together, then?" the female spoke out loud. The other males turned to look at her. "I mean, it would be safer, right? We can watch each others back."

The older man nodded, thinking on it. "I think little sister got something here. We'll stick together until we get to the evacuation. At that point, we can go our own ways. Sound good?" he asked, looking around to see the others reactions. Ellis and the woman both nodded. When the third male didn't reply right away, everyone looked at him. The man in the white suit glared at all of them before snorting. "Fine."

"Cool!" Ellis said, excited. "So, what's your names?" he asked the group.

"My friends call me Coach. I guess y'all can do the same," the older man said.

"Hey. Name's Rochelle."

"My name is Ellis, some people call me El. But I really prefer Ellis 'cause El kinda sounds like a girl's name. But, if you prefer to call me El, I guess you can," Ellis explained.

"Alright, good. Introductions are now done, can we get a move on?" the last male said in annoyance, an eyebrow raised. Ellis shook his head.

"Nah, man. You gotta tell us your name!"

He sighed irritably, as if he was trying to get his point across to a three year old. "I'm Nick. Okay, happy now? Now lets go." He turned on his heel and started march away. The other three glanced at each other and shrugged. No need to argue about that. Maybe he was having a bad day. The group walked down the highway, Nick in the lead. Once in a while, someone would find something that seemed valuable and would grab it. They weren't doing that often, however, because they all felt the stress of the situation. What if they take too long and the people will leave?

Everyone was advised by Coach to use anything except guns. There were alarmed cars, and they didn't want to risk accidentally shooting one. You could never tell which is alarmed or not. The whole scene was depressing. In one of the cars that Ellis had spotted, a lone teddy bear sat on the backseat. He wondered if the child was able to make it alive.

"I wonder what happened to the people," Rochelle said, almost as if she had heard what Ellis was thinking.

"Probably dead," Nick replied with no emotion in his voice. Even the bitter man was effected by the grim atmosphere.

Ellis, paying attention to the cars, forgot to pay attention to his feet. He stepped on an arm, cracking the bone, and throwing off his balance. He tried to catch his balance, flinging his arms, but it did no good. He stumbled back and landed on a car. A shrill noise started, startling them. The four listened in horror as the alarm echoed. In response, a guttural, inhuman noise yelled out.

"Turn it off!" Rochelle yelled, covering her ears.

The mechanic yanked open the car door, glad that he had worked on cars like this before. He looked for a little red button located close to the floor, his heart racing. When he found it, he pressed and held it as fast as he could. The alarm stopped, leaving the silence even louder than it was before. He hesitated before releasing the button. Ellis stepped out of the car and shut the door with a sigh. He looked around to see the other three watching him in disbelief and maybe with a hint of anger. Ellis cringed. "Oops?" he said weakly.

The man in the white suit, Nick, face turned to an impressive shade of scarlet. "Oops? _Oops? _Do you have any idea what you just did?" he yelled, his voice getting louder and louder.

The younger male didn't had the chance to reply before another inhuman scream was heard. The hairs on Ellis' neck rose. Everyone held out their weapons and looked around, trying to find out where the zombies will be coming from. The suspense was bordering on being intolerable. Finally, the first zombie emerge. It crawled over the highway's rails and limped to the living humans as fast as its body would let it. With a loud gunshot, the zombie fell motionless. Ellis stared at Nick in awe, wondering how could someone do that without even blinking. He was standing tall with one hand holding his gun, the other holding a wrench. It looked like the type of wrench one would use to fix a car.

The amount of zombies steadily grew, and the four had to work together to prevent themselves from being swarmed. Occasionally, one would call out for help, and the other would help them. Rochelle cried out in horror when everyone heard a loud crack. Ellis glanced over his shoulder to see that her mop had broken in half. Nick quickly handed her his wrench before switching to his gun. Rochelle shouted her thanks as she continued to fight.

Ellis killed another zombie with a triumphant cry. This was easy! If this bat wasn't covered with blood and who knows what else, he would probably kiss it right then and there. A growl caught his attention. He had never heard this growl before, even from a zombie. He turned around on his heal, trying to figure out where it came from before it gets him.

A heavy weight hit him in the back, knocking him down on the ground. He rolled over to see a huge demented looking man. Or, it was once a man. Ellis wasn't sure what it was now. It had a huge, muscular arm and was wearing baggy, torn overalls. What caught his attention was the limp, small arm. It looked out of place on the muscular thing. The creature grabbed Ellis' sides, pinching him, and easily picked him up. The southerner wasn't sure what was going on, but he knew it wasn't good. "Help!" he cried out.

The creature then slammed Ellis down on the ground, knocking the air from his lungs and giving him whiplash. He barely had enough time to suck in a huge gasp of air before the creature slammed him down again. Stars littered in his vision and he hoped dearly that someone had noticed him getting pinned. It seemed for forever until the creature stopped, dropping Ellis on the ground. It soon followed, landing with a dull thud. The next time Ellis knew, Rochelle was in front of him, looking concern. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Ellis groaned, sitting up. He felt for any broken bones and was relieved that he found none. He stood up, feeling all of his ribs protest. He was lucky, that he knew for sure. He would have to be careful from now on, because something told him that he wouldn't be as lucky next time. Instinctively, his hand flew to his head to check his hat. When he felt his bare head, he panicked; his hat was missing. Ellis whirled around, looking desperately for the missing item. Where could it have gone? It was nowhere in plain sight.

A hand grabbed his shoulder, halting his search and his train of thoughts. He turned to the owner of the hand to see Rochelle standing there, smiling. She held up the hat, handing it to him. A huge smile of gratitude spread on his face and Ellis happily took it. He put it on, making sure it was keeping his curly hair out of his face. "Thanks, Ro!"

Ellis caught a glimpse of Nick giving him a rather cold glare and Ellis cringed. Coach shook his head in disbelieve. "What was that?" he breathed.

"I don't know," Ellis responded, "but I sure as hell don't want to find another one."

Rochelle nodded in agreement to Ellis' statement. "He's right. Let's keep going before more come."


End file.
